Funnyman Bradley is so serious about Wales

HE is known for his old school wit and sharp line in banter, but Bradley Davies is deadly serious about the idea of making one more World Cup with Wales. He’s a funny man, is Bradley. During the 2011 global tournament, Mike Phillips responded to some stick about his being voted “the World Cup’s top hunk” by a newspaper.

“He gave me some abuse,” laughed Davies in a wonderfully self-deprecating interview not long after Phillips had spoken out.

“He said I was captain of the ugly XV.” One-nil to Spikey Mikey, then. So be it.

But Davies had his business head on at the Ospreys’ training base this week. His immediate priority is to help his region claim a second successive win of the Guinness PRO14 campaign away to Glasgow this afternoon (3.15pm).

However, when asked whether he had one more World Cup in him, he didn’t hesitate with his response. “Hopefully, yes,” he said. “People who know me will say there’s no-one who trains harder but just getting on the field has been my problem over the last few years.

“It’s about getting on the pitch and consistently playing well.

“If you look back to the 2011 World Cup I had a really good pre-season.

“We went to Poland with our physical performance coach Adam Beard and I had a really intense block of getting my body right to play rugby. “I still feel I can play for Wales. “The most important thing is to put a run of games together and play well for the Ospreys.”

The 30-year-old former Cardiff Blues player hasn’t played a Test since suffering a knee injury against Australia last November. It was agreed he should miss the summer tour of the southern hemisphere because his wife was expecting their second child, a call that prompted one or two to have a little moan.

But it was absolutely the right decision, with Davies still getting back up to speed after his knee problems and his wife in the late stages of pregnancy and needing his support.

Family counts, and, to their credit, Wales recognised as much.

“The decision didn’t come from nowhere,” said Davies. “I was still battling with my knees injury-wise.

“The news came that the baby was due and my wife Laura was a bit worried that if I did go she’d be on her own for a long time.

“So I spoke to the coaches and we made a call together.

“It was the right decision because I was there for the birth of my child and rugby aside family is the most important thing.

“The baby came when the boys were leaving Samoa, so I couldn’t take the risk.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go. In the end, I still put my hand up for selection but the coaches were behind me and we decided I should stay at home.”

For the meeting with Dave Rennie’s Glasgow, Sam Davies and Tom Habberfield will both pass a significant milestone when they appear for the 100th time for the Ospreys, with Davies replacing James Hook at No.10.